Plan B. As soon as I heard those words, I had a bad feeling.
«So does that answer all your questions?»
«Yes, more or less».
Otherwise, I no longer felt as hostile towards Baekho Lee as before. He had honestly answered all my questions instead of trying to trick me and hide his true intentions behind a smile. If only that, it was an improvement.
«Even if I ask you what your plan B is, you're not going to tell me, are you?».
«I really can't tell you. I have to keep at least one card up my sleeve, right?».
I sighed. Still, he was right. Although it was a shame that I didn't get to hear his plan, I understood why he couldn't tell me and instead chose to move on. It's not like I had told him everything either. We had only shown each other the necessary cards. That was enough for now.
«So does this make me your enemy or your friend?».
I responded without much hesitation. «I wonder. It seems that, at most, we are temporary companions».
«...Temporary colleagues?»
«Yeah. That's right.»
Baekho didn't seem to understand what he meant by that.
Well, it's a good idea to clear things up between us.
«I will work with you to make sure you come home», I clarified.
«And in exchange, will I help you whenever you need it?».
«Something like that».
«Not so bad, but what if we disagree on something or something goes wrong...?».
I smiled and shrugged. It was not like Baekho to sound so cautious and tentative. «Then we will have to go our separate ways. There is nothing else to do. I hope it doesn't come to that, but like you said, it's impossible to guarantee that things turn out the way you want».
«...Big Brother, you are so cool.»
«Yeah. So keep working on that Plan B of yours. I won't get in the way. In the meantime, I will continue working on my plans as well.»
It was human instinct to prepare for the worst. And in my opinion, anyone who didn't have that instinct was someone I wouldn't want to work with in the first place.
«Temporary companions. Alright, let's do it».
Baekho extended a hand, apparently happy with the agreement we had reached. But why was he doing something so horrible now? Although I hated him, I accepted his handshake.
«...Hey, brother, I just got goosebumps.»
«You don't have to tell me twice. I feel the same».
After a brief handshake, we each sat back down on the couch with a smile on our faces.
«We should have done this from the beginning».
«Lo sé».
It wasn't that bad of a feeling.
***
After that, I continued my conversation with Baekho. One of the topics we discussed was the new hidden area.
«You have to tell me, brother. What the hell did you do?»
«I don't know either. I think I activated a special condition somehow, but I really don't know how it happened».
«Really? It's a shame, but... Even if you knew, I guess it wouldn't make much difference. After all, a feat recorded on the Stone of Honor can only be accomplished once. Whatever you did, it won't work exactly the same again».
«¿In series?»
«What, you didn't know? I guess you don't really know much other than what was in the game...»
Well, that couldn't be helped. I practically lived in the library for a while when I came into this world, but the only information I could find there was public and basic.
«...It's time. I should go». After chatting for a while longer, it was time for Baekho to log out.
«Hey», I told him before he could leave, «why don't we start meeting in town from now on?».
«I would love to, but I don't think I can for a while. I'm going out for a while».
«...Out. You mean outside the walls?»
«Yeah. I finally found a way out. I searched the entire underground city for centuries to find one».
Un momento, esto seems important.
When I asked him to tell me more, he shook his head, his expression sad. «I wish I could, but it would be too hard to explain in the next two minutes. I'll send a letter to your house before you leave. I'll even give you instructions in case you want to go out too».
«Thank you.»
Is this what people mean when they say you have to surround yourself with smart people?
Without lifting a finger, he had found a way out of the kingdom. Like Baekho, he had been curious about the outside world for quite some time.
Still, I got back to the point. «But why do you want to go out there?».
«Auril Gavis. I have a feeling he's out there for some reason, so I'm going to look for him. I'm sure that old man has the answers to most of my questions».
Come to think of it, I should have asked Baekho about the old man too. Given the current state of our relationship, he would probably give me an honest answer now.
Well... I guess I can ask him next time.
«Well then, I'm leaving. See you next month».
«Yes, see you. If you find it, let me know».
«Sí.»
Without further ado, Baekho Lee left. I sat there staring at the fireplace and collecting my thoughts for a while before Hyeonbyeol finally returned.
«Today you came back later than usual».
«What, you think I just wait outside and stare at the number of people in the chat until I can get back up?».
Hey... didn't he? I thought that's what I did, since I came back almost immediately every other time...
«So... your expression seems lighter than usual».
"¿What?
«It seems like you've taken care of something that's been worrying you».
«Oh... In series?»
This woman was strangely sharp when it came to that kind of thing. I didn't confirm or deny her suspicions, but she smiled like me and leaned back on the other side of the couch. As she lay down, I didn't know where to place my eyes.
«Hyeonbyeol...? You know you're wearing a skirt, right...?».
«AND? I wear stockings».
«Oh...»
So does that make it okay?
For some reason, his argument worked, and I convinced myself to stay still.
Hyeonbyeol looked at me with the same smile on her face. «Look at you, acting like this for something so insignificant. Anyway, now that I'm here...». He took out a book out of nowhere and, as if there was nothing special about that, he began to read.
«...What is that book?» asked. «Where did you get it from?».
«Don't you know? This book is quite popular around here these days».
I stared at her without understanding.
«You really don't know, huh? Well, you know you can buy and sell clothes that can be worn here in the community, right?».
«Sí».
Ghostbusters was strikingly similar to certain online communities in that there was a currency system. You could use it to personalize it, like furnishing chat rooms or styling your character, but I had never used it except to get a single new suit.
«Este libro es así», dijo Hyeonbyeol.
«So it's just an accessory with nothing written inside?».
«That's not at all what I'm saying. No, this book was written by someone who used to write a lot on the bulletin board for free. Because their posts were so popular, they asked mods for permission to start making and selling books instead.»
«Huh... that's interesting. It's good?»
«Do you want to read it? Here, I have one of the oldest».
«Yes, let me read it».
I grabbed the new book and flipped through the first page. It was a normal urban fantasy novel, but I found it addictive from the beginning. However, I had a hard time concentrating.
...I'm going to lose my mind.
Hyeonbyeol was just reading his book, sure, but why did he keep moving his feet like that?
«I'm stretching. My legs are numb.»
«... Do you want an alt?»
«No. From the look on your face I realized you were thinking that».
...I really can't do anything in front of this woman without her reading me.
I decided to turn my back on him so I could focus on the book. We both continued reading in silence for a long time.
«Hola».
It took me a moment to realize that Hyeonbyeol was talking to me. I blinked and looked up. «...Eh?»
«Don't you usually leave at this time?»
«Ah...»
Man, why was this book so interesting? I hadn't even realized the time; Just thanks to Hyeonbyeol's reminder I hadn't missed the Round Table completely. I apologized over my shoulder as I said goodbye and hurried into the private chat, putting on my usual navy suit and lion mask since I was short on time.
When I entered the room, there were already eight other members.
«It's here, Mr. León. Pshehe».
Clown was the first to greet me in that familiar way of his. Next were Fox, Crescent, Deer, Queen, Butterfly, Wolf...
Are there only eight people here?
Black Mask, one of the rookies from last time, didn't seem to have come today. But just when I was thinking that-
Step.
Black Mask entered through the door at the opposite end of the room. He took a second to glance at the table for an empty seat before sitting down.
«Nice to see you, Miss Black...».
Goblin, who was sitting next to her, greeted her politely. However, she crossed her arms and did not respond. He gave the feeling of being someone with a lot of power.
Step.
In any case, I headed to my usual seat, which had been left empty for me. As soon as I sat down, the doors of the Round Table slammed shut.
«Today there are ten of us in total...» Reina murmured to herself. «What a strange feeling, seeing so many people here».
«It makes sense for you to feel that way, Reina», Crescent replied, not without kindness.
«Are you saying you don't feel the same way, Mr. Crescent?».
The one who answered Queen was not Crescent, but one of the rookies of the trio last time. He was the one wearing the wolf mask, the same person who held the title of Returning User. «Hahaha! When Master was here, sometimes there were more than twenty of us. Ah, so things were...»
«At that time, all you did was suck up to the Master. Pshehe.»
Wolf remained silent.
«Clown, are you really one of those who talk?», Crescent mocked.
«Pshehe. I guess elves must be very attractive, since you've fallen madly in love with an NPC. When are you going to look for me again? Aren't you going to get revenge soon?».
«Wow! Are you enemies? It's incredible», interrupted a happy voice. «Please make sure to invite me when you finally fight!».
«Pshehe! Of course, Miss Butterfly».
I sighed. Now that there were so many people attending, things were becoming quite chaotic.
When I turned my head towards Fox, he immediately caught my gaze and hurried to put things in order. «Since it seems like everyone is here, why don't we start...?».
«Haha, let's do it. We're not just here to chat, after all».
When things calmed down, attention naturally shifted to the person sitting next to me. After all, this was now an unspoken rule at the Round Table: the person next to me was always the first to leave.
«So I guess you're the first this time, Queen».
«I guess so. I didn't expect you to sit there on the other side of the table». Queen was actually sitting three seats down than me, but this time she was the first to leave, as everyone else sat in front of us. He let out a loud sigh and started slowly. «This is related to a pretty hot topic these days. The person who made the Stone of Honor was none other than the Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius himself».
Since the jewel on the table turned green, that meant the information was something she believed to be true, and less than half of those present knew it. However, it wasn't long before people started complaining.
«Is it important to know who did that thing? Pshehe».
«Hehe, that's what I was going to say. It's not like I'm a magician or anything, why should I care about that?»
«First of all, basically every strange or mysterious thing in this world ends up leading back to that guy, so it's not like this is really news».
Queen had apparently foreseen this response and did not try to defend herself at all, instead going on to offer more information. «What do you think of this? There is credible evidence that the Stone of Honor itself is an achievement of Gabrielius. In other words, it is proof of a hidden feature».
A hidden feature ...
«Eso no es malo. »
It seemed that the other members of the group were also willing to accept Queen's information. With your turn, we move on to the next.
«Next month there will be a meeting between all races. And it is confirmed that the human representative, the Lord of the Magic Tower, will also attend».
It would not have been enough to say that a meeting between the races was going to be held. That's why Crescent made sure to specify who would represent humans, so no one could complain.
So the Lord of the Magic Tower is the human representative...
Actually, other than that, I didn't even know there was going to be a meeting next month, and I was the boss. How come he already knew it when even I didn't?
That shows the difference between belonging to a race with power and not having it.
In fact, apart from the barbarians, all races had connections with the royal family. Melbeth's other houses had not left their land for nothing. By distancing themselves from those below, they were able to get closer to those above. And in return, they were able to provide information that improved the position of their people in general.
«Missha Karlstein see ha unido al Clan Anabada.»
Suddenly, it was Fox's turn. I was a little surprised to suddenly hear that name on this table, but it wasn't too shocking.
In any case, the news of his incorporation would soon spread everywhere, so Fox must have decided that using his name as information this time was a safe bet.
He wasn't wrong. The value of the information was relatively low, but no one objected. After all, anything related to Bjorn Yandel was considered useful here.
«So there must be that girl...»
«But... I thought she was on your team? Something must have happened.»
«Pshehe... Not bad at all, Miss Fox. I didn't know it had such good sources».
After Fox's turn, it was Goblin's, then Black Mask's, and then Deer's. However, this time there was nothing particularly shocking, and I tuned in as if it were the evening news at dinner time.
«Sobre esa mujer, Missha Karlstein...»
That? What's wrong with her? What's wrong with her?
Just as I was about to fall asleep, Butterfly's comment suddenly caught my attention. I blinked awake, on high alert, as she continued with a smile on her face.
«She is a traitor».
Although I heard what he said very clearly, I couldn't process it. A traitor? Did you say it from Baekho Lee's point of view?
As I struggled to understand it, Butterfly, who seemed to have read my thoughts, added: «Oh, and I mean Bjorn Yandel, of course».
What the hell are you talking about?
With that thought in mind, I quickly looked towards the center of the Round Table.
Shaaaaaa.
The jewel silently radiated a bright green glow.